Last Night: Project Runway "Back to New York"

From the tweets and status updates I've seen, it seems that most people who watched Project Runway last night did so because their DVR picked it up for them. No one seemed to know the show was coming back, myself included. I only found out last Friday while driving home from LAX... Lifetime has a giant billboard over downtown L.A. "Oh! Project Runway is starting?! ...and it's in NYC again?! Cool! I think I will like that better. The L.A. season was boring!"

It's true. After last season, the only reason for watching last night was for my loyalty to Heidi and Tim. And Christian and Santino. And Uli. And Daniel V. And Michael Kors. And Nina. All the greats. They're the reason I loved Project Runway. Oh, and of course... New York City. So, that being said, I had to give it another shot. Last year's transition to Lifetime was a messy one; it broke the spirit of the show for everyone I think. But this is a new year: 2010 - Runway back in New York. Even though we don't get our beautiful Bravo graphics surrounding it, (I definitely hit play when I saw a Bravo promo last night, just out of habit, thinking the show was about to start. Wonderful placement everyone!), I'm feeling better about this season already.

It feels good to be back at the Atlas. And the cast already seems much more interesting. I loved how they went about introducing everyone, up on the roof, having them describe their style. It was a good way to set the tone, and lead us into the first challenge. The designers seem like a very serious bunch, forward thinking and very passionate about fashion, texture, shapes, color. Plus, a lot of them are just great looking characters. "High 5 for bangs!"

To start off the first challenge, they had a 3 minute dash for fabric in the park. My favorite, Ping, "got all the ugliest fabrics", but I still felt good about rooting for her. She's a physical therapist and a designer from Taiwan. Really can't go wrong there. Love her.

So the designers attempted to create their "this is me" looks. Tim went around the room and gave his usual critiquing. Some designers listened, and others did not. They'll learn.

So far Janeane is the most annoying - what a cry baby. And that's a bummer because she is Leanne's friend. And I loved Leanne. (click to read her blog post about Janeane.) But tears aside, Janeane was impressive. She started all over 2 hours before time was up and created a really cute every day outfit that I would love to wear.

The other surprise: Emilio Sosa and his adorable dress. He went from being not even close to finished - and with a very confusing looking project on his hands - to winning the challenge. His dress was so cute. Guest host Nicole Richie loved it too.

The first episode was a successful one in my book. The cast is great, the challenge was interesting, the time constraints kept me on the edge of my couch. Unlike last season I was actually excited to see the final products, and didn't get up to clean my kitchen mid show.

It's gotta be the worst to get kicked off first on Project Runway, but what's even worse is getting kicked off my TiVo season pass list after your first episode. Tim and Heidi, you'll be happy to know, you're IN.